"That's because that guy Bran was also injured by me, or rather, he almost died in my hands again!"
Suddenly, a low and hoarse voice echoed from the center of the hall, immediately drawing everyone's attention.
The dried corpse on the throne in the center of the hall had, at some point, revived, and he had pulled out the longsword that was thrust into his chest.
"So! You are Qiao Man? The former King of the Frontier?"
Maco said calmly, as if he were talking to an ordinary person.
"Child! You must address me as Your Majesty! Now, swear your allegiance to me! You shall become my general, expand my territory, and help me regain the throne!"
The dried corpse, Qiao Man, said to Maco, the way he sat on the throne actually looked a bit impressive, and his tone was full of authority.
Maco chuckled lightly and said to him:
"Hmph! You want me to submit? Do you even have the ability, you trash!"
"You foolish humans! Since you refuse to submit! Then become Undead Warriors under my command! The King's glory! It cannot be desecrated!"
The former King of the Frontier, Qiao Man, spoke in a cold tone.
Following that, he swung the longsword in his hand, pointing it diagonally at Maco. A wave of dark green energy also emanated from his body with the movement.
This green energy was filled with resentment and curses, spreading out in wisps.
The skeletons and corpses in the hall all "revived" under the influence of this strange energy.
Dark green soul fire burned fiercely in their eye sockets, flickering in the dark underground cavern, looking terrifying and eerie.
These revived Undead Soldiers, under Qiao Man's command, charged madly towards Maco and the others.
Maco looked at the charging Undead Soldiers with disdain. With a thought, the Ghouls also let out a strange cry and charged towards the Undead Soldiers.
Many of these resurrected soldiers still had their armor and weapons, making them far stronger than the skeletons outside!
So for a moment, Maco's Ghouls were actually suppressed. Just as Maco was about to cast a spell,
a bizarre giant face suddenly appeared in front of him. The eerie green energy, like the tentacles of an octopus, fiercely plunged into Maco's head.
After being hit by this magic, all of Maco's senses seemed to be sealed off, and for a moment, he even lost the desire to attack.
A semi-transparent energy rushed into Maco's body, and that extremely uncomfortable feeling instantly vanished. Maco also returned to normal.
It turned out that Naxius, seeing Maco get hit, had promptly used "Magic Purification" on him. Fortunately, Maco was also quite lucky, managing to succeed with the 80% success rate of the intermediate-level magic.
Maco shook his head violently, making his consciousness much clearer. His gaze turned to the King of the Frontier in the distance.
Qiao Man's soul fire flickered violently in his eye sockets, the failure of the magic seemingly shocking him.
A Mummy? So the spell just now was the advanced 'Raise Undead'? How exactly did this guy revive? Shouldn't it be a Ghoul?
Maco watched Qiao Man from afar, thinking to himself.
Because of the earlier sneak attack, a trace of displeasure had arisen in his heart. Now, seeing his Ghoul Soldiers, who had always been suppressed, Maco's anger flared up to the extreme.
Therefore, he opened his spellbook and directly cast the Level 2 warcry-type spell, "Fear Howl". Although this magic wouldn't terrify undead creatures, it could empower the soldiers under Maco's command with blood rage energy.
After a roar, the blood in Maco's body flowed violently. Under the influence of magic, this blood was drawn out of his body.
The blood, accompanied by magic, dispersed, adding a layer of pale red blood rage energy to all the soldiers, causing the purple energy light in the Ghouls' eyes to take on a hint of red.
Following that, Maco flipped his spellbook to the "Summoning Magic" page and selected "Summon Elementals".
A sudden, miniature whirlwind appeared above a magic circle, and after swirling for a moment, it solidified into a Wind Elemental.
"Not enough! Again! Naxius! 'Righteous Power'!"
Righteous Power, Mana Cost: 6 Enhances friendly units, increasing their attack power. Base: Target creature's attack +10%. Novice: Target creature's attack +20%. Intermediate: Target creature's attack +30%. Advanced: Target creature's attack +40%.
Maco said to Naxius beside him. He himself flipped the spellbook to the rune magic on another page and clicked "Berserk Rune".
After a flash of dazzling rune light, the Wind Elemental seemed to suddenly grow larger.
Maco moved his mind, and the soul link directly connected to the Wind Elemental, giving it simple guidance.
Because, in subsequent research, Maco found that he could give simple commands to these summoned creatures through the soul link.
"Whoosh"
The Wind Elemental, after activating Berserk Mode, began to charge towards the throne. Everything that blocked its path was violently knocked aside.
Seeing the approaching Wind Elemental, Qiao Man came forward with his longsword. A "boom" of collision rang out, and Qiao Man was directly knocked flying by the Wind Elemental's powerful impact.
And the Wind Elemental was also subjected to the advanced dark magic "Delaying Grand Spell". Qiao Man, with the biological attributes of a Mummy, would also trigger this "magic attack" characteristic during melee attacks.
This trait was incredibly annoying; every close-range attack randomly triggered a dark curse-type magic.
Qiao Man, who had been knocked back, was filled with shock. He immediately ordered the skeletons to surround the Wind Elemental, hoping to delay this terrifying enemy.
However, the Wind Elemental, influenced by the "Berserk Rune," only had the command to attack Qiao Man in its mind.
Therefore, the Undead Soldiers' attacks didn't hinder the Wind Elemental's advance at all.
Boom!
After another powerful "Wind Pressure Impact," Qiao Man was slammed against the wall. Guided by Maco's soul link, the Wind Elemental could always quickly find Qiao Man's location.
After landing, Qiao Man steeled his resolve, gripped his longsword, and charged towards the Wind Elemental, intending to finish off this enemy in one blow. After several exchanges, Qiao Man noticed the Wind Elemental's body was slowly fading.
Qiao Man wasn't a fool; he knew this was a sign of the magic weakening, so he seized the opportunity to launch a fatal strike.
Maco saw through his intentions, and at the right moment, opened his magic book and cast "Weakness Curse".
Qiao Man, who was in the middle of attacking, had the soul fire in his eyes tremble violently. His body, which had been charging forward, suddenly went limp, and he almost fell to the ground.
The Wind Elemental wouldn't care what state he was in. It swung its arms, made of whirling wind, and struck forward fiercely, unleashing a "Wind Pressure Impact" that directly shattered the right arm Qiao Man was holding his sword with.
During the interval of their fight, the Ghouls, under Maco's "Fear Howl" buff, annihilated all the Undead Soldiers. Although they lost 13 Ghouls, Maco considered this result a great deal!
After Qiao Man had an arm broken, the remaining two Ghouls rushed up, grabbing Qiao Man from the left and right, and pinning him to the ground.
The Wind Elemental, with its body looking a little faded, slowly moved in front of Qiao Man and raised its hands, preparing to deliver the final blow.
The soul fire in Qiao Man's eyes danced wildly, as if his entire soul trembled with fear. At this moment, his deep, hoarse voice suddenly rang out.
"I surrender! I surrender! Don't kill me; if I die, I'll disappear completely. I just revived! I don't want to..."
Before the words were finished, a Wind Elemental shattered its head with a blow. After completing the attack, the Wind Elemental dissipated into the air.
The two Ghouls were still motionless on the ground, their hands gripping Qiao Man's corpse tightly, as if unwilling to let go.
Suddenly, Maco's voice came, saying,
"Alright! Stop playing dead! Your head is just broken; it doesn't affect you at all! If you really want to die, I can grant you that wish.
However, if you are willing to pledge your loyalty to me, I will keep your soul and body! Otherwise, I will kill you without mercy!"
"Don't go too far! The King's dignity cannot be violated! I..."
As Maco's voice faded, a raspy voice suddenly replied from where the corpse lay.
Only now, the tone was laced with a tremor, as if filled with fear.
Just as he was about to finish speaking, he was startled by the sudden surge of power emanating from Maco.
He felt as though a pair of terrifying eyes had materialized on Maco, eyes that were now locked onto him, the gaze of a predator fixing its prey.
It turned out that Maco had, at some point, opened his spellbook to the Hades' Banshee entry.
The Hades' Banshee now felt like an extension of Maco's own body; as long as he had the intention to cast a spell, the Hades' Banshee would immediately target the intended victim.
At this moment, Maco's voice slowly drifted over, "So, former King of the Frontier! What do you mean by this? Last chance! Submit or perish!"
"I... I am willing to offer my loyalty! That endless darkness, I don't want to experience it again!"
In the end, the threat of death a second time caused the former King of the Frontier to abandon all pride and swear allegiance to Maco.
"Ding! An altered Mummy, due to your strength, has decided to join your ranks. Do you accept?"
After Maco clicked the "Yes" option, a surge of energy suddenly flowed from his body into Qiao Man's corpse.
The energy, shimmering with a purple light, slowly settled onto Qiao Man's body. Stimulated by this energy, the decaying flesh and scraps of cloth from the surrounding corpses seemed to come alive, inching their way towards Qiao Man's form.
Following this, the purple light flashed intensely, transforming into all sorts of runes. They continuously gathered on Qiao Man, seemingly assembling into a complete runic phrase.
Once the light dissipated, Qiao Man, who had been lying at the feet of two Ghouls, slowly climbed to his feet.
At this moment, Qiao Man was completely wrapped in rune-covered bandages, resembling a true Mummy. The only difference was that he didn't have the Egyptian-style headdress seen in the game, making him look relatively normal.
Now, the soul fire flickering in Qiao Man's eyes had turned purple, a unique characteristic of Maco's undead creatures.
Mummy (Mutated)
Undead Creature
Magic Attack: After successfully attacking a target, one of the following advanced effects is applied: Weakness Curse, Delaying Grand Spell, Armor Break Weakening, or Agony Torture.
Caster: Can cast Mind Confusion (Advanced) and Raise Undead (Advanced) spells.
"This is an ancient king resurrected by undead magic. He already possessed an extremely strong magical talent. Now, he's been completely transformed into a Mummy, so he will better unleash various dark magic for the master's service!"
"This is truly amazing! I can feel that I possess even stronger magic power than before! Thank you! My great master!"
Qiao Man raised his hands slightly, and a trace of purple energy, wrapped around his hands by rune bandages, danced like little worms, appearing incredibly magical.
Maco, hearing his words, felt curious and opened his attribute panel. He discovered that this fellow's magic value had reached 32 points.
In other words, this guy had 7 more magic points than Naxius. Now, along with his miscellaneous curse magic attacks, Qiao Man could be said to be the strongest spell-casting unit under Maco's command.
Unlike Maco, their magic points would refresh once a day, allowing them to continuously engage in battle.
In the early stages, Maco's magical stamina couldn't even compare to theirs, as his mana could only be restored through a special method.
Seeing Qiao Man's excitement, Maco suddenly said, "What's this? Ignoring the King's glory now? Weren't you full of grievances at first? Why aren't you angry anymore!"
"Uh! You! You! How did you know? No, no, no! Master! You have bestowed great power upon me, and I will always be loyal to you! Until the stars fall!"
Qiao Man's words were completely out of character, making Maco wonder if the system had swapped him out!
In their subsequent conversation, Maco learned the details of the ancient battle from Qiao Man.
Back then, Bran Stark, the Night King, and his White Walker wife had established a kingdom at the Wall, the Night Kingdom!
They used witchcraft to rule over the Nightfort, forcing many to obey them, while the good-hearted Night's Watch warriors dared not speak out.
After sacrificing many people, Bran Stark, seeking more power and wealth, betrayed his vows and sent his rebels to burn, kill, and plunder throughout the Shadow Forest!
At its peak, the Night's Watch had a force of around 10,000 men. Over 5,000 rangers joined the rebellion this time.
They forced the wildlings beyond the Wall to work for them, treating them like slaves. This, of course, caught the attention of the King of the Frontier, Qiao Man.
He mobilized his army, intending to ambush the chaotic Long Night Fort. However, he was discovered by Bran Stark. After a clash, the wildlings suffered heavy losses.
Bran Stark's elder brother, Doran Stark, also noticed his brother's betrayal because of these clues. So, he sent troops to attack the rebels on the Wall.
"Long Night Fort is truly sturdy; we couldn't do anything about it. So, to deal with this tumor, the two sides joined together and spent three years to completely kill Bran and his White Walker woman! It's just... sigh!"